AMA Drone Report 12.14.17

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AMA Drone Report 12.14.17

A Red Tesla Roadster Will Be Headed To Mars, According To Elon Musk

Elon Musk is certainly serious about space exploration ... as well as a number of other technology interests. But when the Falcon Heavy is launched for the first time, which is now tentatively planned for sometime in January, we'll get another peek into his sense of humor.

In a tweet on Friday, Musk announced that the payload for the first Falcon Heavy launch will be "my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing 'Space Oddity'. Destination is Mars Orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow upon ascent."

That sounds like it could have been written for "The Onion" ... but SpaceX confirmed the plan, although The Financial Review reports that the Tweet seems to have caught the company by surprise.

In a separate Tweet, Musk said "I love the thought of a car drifting apparently endlessly through space and perhaps being discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future."

Musk was also serious about his concerns that the rocket will not make it into space. Falcon Heavy is powered by 27 engines, all of which have to fire at the same time. Musk said that the project is "way, way more difficult that we originally thought."

"I hope it makes it far enough away from the pad that it does not cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win," he said. "Major pucker factor, really. There's no other way to describe it."